[Efficacy of polyvinylpyrrolidone solutions of various concentrations in patients with rheumatic diseases of the joints].

Twenty-six experimental animals, 93 patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) and 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined. Intraarticular injection of both 15% and 20% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solutions suppressed the development of experimental arthrosis in rabbits, which manifested in a decrease of the degenerative changes in the cartilaginous tissue of the joints. The clinical examination has demonstrated that the use of different concentrations of PVP produces an equally marked effect in OA. In the group of RA and OA patients given placebo the time-course of changes in the clinical data was pronounced less powerfully. PVP turned out to be effective in secondary synovitis, to influence the immunologic responses occurring in synovitis, and to exert a beneficial action on the rheological properties of the synovial fluid. The drug is completely eliminated from the articular cavity and the body during 5 days.